Chorlton Bike Deliveries
Profile:
Chorlton Bike Deliveries is more than just a bike delivery service. We are a collective of people with a shared vision – to make our community a happy, healthy and compassionate place to live. And we’re using bikes to drive this positive change.
Our mission is for all local deliveries and journeys to be made by bike, or on foot.
CBD was born out of the community, with individuals coming together to support those in need, during a time of great need. From a grassroots response to covid in early 2020, we’ve grown into a successful cooperative movement, with over 50 members made up of riders, community groups, independent businesses and others who simply share our values and advocate for our vision.
What do we do?
Our services are wide-ranging and ever-expanding as our network of partners continues to grow.
- We help those in need by delivering unsold food to a multitude of local food banks and drop off meals from food projects to residents who might otherwise go hungry.
- We help to keep vital services running, picking up medical specimens from local GP practices and delivering to hospitals in the area.
- We keep city office workers well fed with a contract to deliver lunches from independent town centre eateries to local workplaces.
- We give people who don't own their own bike access to one, via our bike library.
- We revive unused bikes for asylum-seekers and refugees, providing hundreds of people with the invaluable freedom to travel.
- We make sure that age is no barrier, offering those who would otherwise be unable to, the opportunity to feel the wind in their hair on our trishaw ridden by trained ‘pilots’.
- We deliver just about anything our local independent businesses sell – from cheese to chocolate, books to Christmas trees.
But most importantly we deliver smiles and a human connection in every single journey. We’re offering a visible, inspiring alternative to how things can be done.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that we change lives every day.
How do we operate?
Our deliveries are carried out by a passionate tribe of pedal-pioneers who wear the CBD name with pride. Both a mixture of volunteers and paid riders, they cover around 1,000 miles every month on a range of owned or loaned cargo bikes.
Not only does this bring about benefits to the environment by reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality but, put simply, it makes our streets much nicer places to live. It reduces traffic and creates safer, quieter places where our children can play more freely and breathe fresh air. Remember when we switched off traffic during lockdown? This is our end game.
What do we stand for?
CBD is a registered cooperative – owned and run by our members for the benefit of the wider community, and based on the values of equality, equity, solidarity, democracy, self-help and responsibility.
To put our purpose and values into practice we have a set of guiding principles.* (note from claire: see stuff at the end on this, easier the do it that way than as a comment) We are, and support those that are:
- Using bikes as a way to create positive change in society
- Community minded - supportive of the interests of local people and businesses
- Good for the planet - furthering sustainability/green ambitions
- Create employment for young people - paying the living wage
How can you get involved?
We’re unlocking more of our potential with every new opportunity that comes our way - both within Chorlton and beyond.
Need help with your deliveries? Want to become a rider? Got a bike to donate? Have time or skills to offer? Come and join the movement.
Whether you want to pedal for us, partner with us or simply help us push for positive change, visit https://www.chorltonbikedeliveries.coop to find out more and get in touch.
